BOTERO

BOTERO

I went to Botero at the Encore (part of the Wynn in Las Vegas) for the second time this past weekend.  It wasn't as great as I remember, but my dinner date was also not as into the restaurant and food as I was so that could have ruined it slightly for me.  We both agreed that the service was PHENOMENAL!!  I started off with the Orange Blossom cocktail which was really light, refreshing and not too sweet.  I'm not exactly sure what was in it, but it did have a lychee.  I love those lil Asian pears.  

They bread was warm and tasted fresh.  I like the olive loaf, my guest prefered the french bread.  We started off with two appetizers.  The first was the crudo tasting with tuna in avocado and soy, halibut in spicy tomato, salmon in a lemon sea salt, and hamachi in tangerine puree.  I really like the dish.  I love the fresh, slinly sliced raw fish in a light viniagrette.  My dining partner hated the leafy green stuff on top and thought everything just tasted bland and like it was in oil.  It doesn't pack a ton of flavor, but it is a nice contrast to the huge steak you will devour in your second or third course.

We both LOVED the other appetizer which was fried frog legs in a lemon butter with a fennel salad.  I thought the frog logs were delicious and the lemon butter was really great.  The fennel salad tasted like cole slaw gone bad.  My guest liked it, but not me!!  We had both never had frog legs before.  Yes, they do kind of taste like chicken.  They were really good.  I would order these again.

We both ordered steaks for dinner.  My friend got a New York Strip cooked medium rare with the peppercorn seasoning.  He didn't like that you had to dip the steak into the sauces.  I of course ordered the petite filet.  I'm too tiny to order a different cut of meat unless someone wants to share with me.  I ordered it chimmichurri style and rare.  It was served to me medium rare.  It was pretty disappointing.  Still a great cut of meat, but it wasn't what I ordered and I didn't feel like waiting for a new steak.  It was pretty surprising that for $38 for a steak and they couldn't seem to cook it properly.  I still kind of enjoyed it, but filets, in my opinion should ALWAYS be RARE.  

We skipped dessert. We were going out to some clubs that night and didn't want to make ourselves sickly full.

The thing I love most about Botero is the way it is cleverly decorated and designed around the artwork of Fernando Botero, who is famous for painting these adorable short fat people.

I've been to Botero twice now and I won't feel a need to go back for a while.  There are a lot of great restaurants in Las Vegas I still haven't tried yet and I am moving to Los Angeles.  Anyone have any recommendation in LA?